Ex-banker tells how rich evaded taxes

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 20 (UPI) -- Swiss bank UBS frequently helps wealthy American clients evade their taxes, a former bank employee said in court.

Bradley Birkenfeld, who worked at UBS from 2002 to 2006, supplied a federal court in Florida with a seven-page statement outlining various strategies the bank used to help the wealthy avoid taxes, The New York Times reported Friday.

The tricks included having bankers declare trips to Switzerland were for pleasure, not business, telling clients to destroy bank documents and advising them on how to smuggle assets, including checks, artwork and jewelry, out of the country, the Times said.

Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to assisting billionaire Igor Olenicoff dodge $7.2 million in federal taxes by helping him hide $200 million in assets, the newspaper said.

Last year, Olenicoff pleaded guilty to filing a false tax statement in 2002.

The court has been pressuring UBS to disclose the names of its wealthy clients and the bank is considering the request, the Times said.

Birkenfeld contended he was not acting alone.

"Our position is that Mr. Birkenfeld was working at UBS where people knew exactly what was going on," said Birkenfeld's attorney, Danny Onorato.

"He's going to tell the government everything he knows," Onorato said.